Phase I: Regional Telework Assessment Phase II: Bandwidth Collaborative Feasibility Audit Phase III: Visioning Process Phase IV: Telecommuting Implementation

RTAP, Phase II, is a process to build the telecommuting infrastructure through the establishment of a Bandwidth Collaborative. Recognizing that all of the telecommuting applications are dependent upon access to secure and affordable high speed bandwidth, it is the goal of this phase to bring the technology providers and the telecommuting application developers together. This concept is based upon the following expectations, i.e., it will: Expand the revenue opportunities for the providers Create a synergy among the application providers and establish a community technology "network" capable of supporting each of the telecommuting applications, and Serve as a catalyst to speed up the region's transition into the Information Age, and Create a mindset that would enable the region to enhance its economic competitiveness. There are three steps to this process:

1. Audit the Providers Following individual interviews with representatives of the leading technology providers, the group is brought together to participate in an e-Consensus Forum®. The interviews allow TCR to generically understand the current and planned technology environment as a context to the forum which presents the RTAP concept and seeks to build a consensus about what are the challenges and opportunities facing the industry and how can the community assist in moving technology forward.

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2. Audit the Developers Similarly, the various telecommuting application developers would be interviewed to understand the scope of their vision for deploying their individual services. The forum would pursue a consensus about their bandwidth needs, the barriers to a broader deployment of their services and again, the definition of how the community could assist them in expanding community opportunities.

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3. Build a Consensus With statements form each group a third forum is held to explore the creation of a Bandwidth Coalition that would seek to educate the community about the pending "Information Age" and advocate for resolution to the issues that were defined by each group.

The outcome of this process typically would include:

• Definition of current deployment plans and a profile of the technology required to support the various telecommuting applications
• Delineation of deployment barriers and mitigation recommendations
• Delineation of deployment opportunities and implementation recommendations
• Delineation of desired roles to be played by the Public, Private and Community Sectors
• Identification of the trip reduction potential offered by the various telecommuting applications
• Identification of community opportunities that such a technology might generate including transportation impacts.

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